Bio
At fourteen years of age, Erich Krauss was cast into the wild with only the clothes on his back. In the high deserts of Southern Utah, he ate ant larva and beetles, slept in shelters constructed of leaves and branches, and created fire from sticks. When he returned home two months later, it was not with the optimistic outlook his parents had hoped. He fell further away from society and structure, closed himself off to his peers, and demanded to wear only the clothes he made from hides. Then, at the age of twenty-one, he abandoned all his possessions, the woman he loved, and the life carved out for him to begin what he deemed his "Southward Calling." When he resurfaced seven years later, he was forty pounds lighter, with eyes glassed over, and talking crazy about an Indian shaman, the mermaid of the Amazon, and the perfect life.
.....Krauss’s perilous seven-year quest to find the missing pieces in his life led him down the Central American Isthmus by car, bicycle, and foot—until he was eventually hacking through the jungle with a machete. While living with the Witote Indian tribe in the heart of the Amazon, Krauss discovered writing, and it quickly became a medium that allowed him to get beneath the surface of everyday life. Krauss crafted several novels along his journey, and when he returned to San Diego he began tackling controversial narrative non-fiction topics. Along with numerous freelance magazine articles, he is the author of two forthcoming books—Brawl and Little Evil.
Project Description
Brawl: A Behind the Scenes Look at Mixed Martial Arts Competition (ECW, November 2002) takes the reader from the early days of unsanctioned fighting to the creation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It examines how the sport drew huge numbers on pay-per-view and why it was shut down based on the lobbying efforts of Senator John McCain—but is now back with a vengeance as a legitimate sporting entity in Las Vegas. Through personal interviews with legendary fighters, Krauss chronicles not only the emergence of a new warrior fighting class, but also a darker side to the sport—one of vendettas, after-parties, and sordid tales of ring-card girls and drunken back-alley brawls.
.....Krauss is also the co-author of Jens Pulver’s autobiography, Little Evil (ECW, Spring 2003).
